Posted on 06/23/2013 6:51:35 AM PDT by bgill
Can anyone explain what sort of questions are asked at property tax protests? I understand I need proof why I'm being charged too much but what all can I use? I'm guessing research between the county appraisal listings for similar square footage and such. My house isn't similar to others in the area so maybe take pictures of inside and out? Perhaps go on a real estate site to see other homes' improvements as opposed to mine?
I'm doing this on my own because the legal help fell through. Neighbors were supposed to get together with legal help on this but didn't but I simply MUST get some relief. I know they don't care about sob stories but I'm against a wall and this will be the end of the family being here for 50 years.
I’m on a small lot but the land here is PRIME $$$ so that’s what’s killing me. The land is valued at twice what the house is so I’m thinking I’m not going to get very far with the assessor.
A friend found out they were assessing her on upscale counter tops. She asked but they never told her how they found out. She’d built the house herself so she knew they hadn’t been inside unless they were snooping around during construction.
My walls are 8 inches thick which makes the rooms small. Assessor is only interested in exterior size of house.
An assessment should not be confused with a RE listing. My house is not liveable presently. Plumbing and electricity has been removed and still needs to be replaced. The assessor said that they don't care about that. They just need to know how many rooms are in a 30x40 foot house. A RE agent would need to know the size of rooms, not an assessor. You may have those measurements on hand but don't depend on them helping you lower the assessment.
Another thing when doing the comparables, look at siding and roof materials. Brick is valued differently from wood siding.
Oh, and try to find comparables for your property that are different from the ones they used. If your house is unique, find another house that's unique in its own category.
Are you serious?!!! I'm shocked. Did your friend see "counter tops" noted on that piece of paper,or was it verbal? If it was verbal then it could be one of their intimidation tactics.
Ok, find out if the assessor has a handbook on what they assess. FOIL if need be.
You need to have many "comps" to prove your value. Use other properties that are close in square footage, the assessors are big on per square foot value's, lot size and value that at per square foot also. Year built as compared to others and remodels if any compared to others.
We have a motto in our county, do not let the assessor come into your home, when they make their visit. If you have done any remodeling, like upgrading the vanity in a bathroom or upgrading kitchen counters with granite, if they see those they will put a higher value on your home.
One last thing, if you have ever put an over the top price on your home for sale and it didn't sell, they will use that against you and say you listed your property for such and such, that price is obviously what you think the value of your home is, I saw this repeatedly in this years meetings.
If you’ve been living in that house for fifty years, apply for a homestead exemption, which many areas offer to old-timers. Another route is to get a historic designation for your house if it’s substantially older than the other houses in the area. Sometimes taxing authorities will put a hold on a tax increase if you can show that you’re applying for state or national historic status. In some parts of the US that have a lot of new construction, even a house that’s 75 years old seems old. You might not get the application approved but it’s a delaying tactic.
How much are they raising your taxes?
Did not realize that about Texas....was not that bad when I lived there. We have been in our place almost 20 years and the original basis was fixed at the cost value. Assessments can go up 2.5% a year, which they did right through the bust so for us they have continued going up as our home is not near FMV now in its appraised value. Due to declining assessed values on properties bought near the top, total assessed property values have been dropping so now the county is considering a milage increase of about 22% which will have the double whammy for us adding in another 2.5%. I know the argument is well, your home is worth more now but since we are not selling and even if we did we would only be trading value for value it just seems insane given “services” have been cut quite a bit too over the past few years. Biggest problem is most of the influx is Yankees who move south for lower taxes but want the same level of handholding they get “back home” which is where they would either stay or move to IMO.
Good luck with your argument.
Tell them you tried to give your house away but had no takers... because nobody could afford the property taxes.
“Is the square foot the actual “living” area such as the sq foot of each room or the foundation sq footage? I’m being picky here since my interior walls are thick so take up more feet than the average sheet rock walls.”
Here in Texas they measure outside dimensions, so you’re out of luck. Parts of my house I had changed from stucco to brick, so I know what you mean, as brick walls are close to a foot thick, especially over 2x6 studs.
The real loophole here is garage space. You are taxed at about 1/3 of the rate of finished area with a garage. So if you can figure out a way to make a garage do more things than storage, you can do really well that way.
Thanks for the reply on the thick walls.
Yes, for real. I’ve been on the phone with her for the past hour going over assessments. I called her to find out exactly where she found out about the counter tops and it was on the CAD’s web site. Of course, they’ve since changed their site because there was waaaay too much private info that was being put out on a public site. Heck, at one time they had sketches of interiors.
Real estate values here are at least $100k over the assessed values on your average 3 bedroom home.
I’ve been calculating sq ft values and they are all over the board. I’m seeing them from $80 to $140 for the same siding construction and built about the same time.
They’ve been raising our taxes the “legal” 10% and a wee bit more with their fuzzy math. Those little extra fractions of a percent are compounded so add up over time.
Mr. b says we should turn the house into a church. I’m thinking a better bet would be to claim it’s a mosque and be safe from the NSA, too.
I appreciate your reply but it’s bgill that’s having the problem, not me.
What state?
Good luck
Hard to beat Texas for lower cost of living and good paying jobs.
At one time but times have changed since all the libs have been moving in and bringing their crazy ideas including their inflated ideas on home prices.
There called Yankees man....yankees lol
Oh, I’ve lapsed...it’s damn yankees. lol
Just kiddin y’all, just wafflin ya.
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